Imagination is one of the great human powers. We use our imagination when we write affirmations and dare to dream. Another way we can use our imaginations is to take journeys into other realms.

The ability to rise beyond the immediate moment and fly to another place is an important safety valve. Each of us will find ourselves physically constrained at some point in our lives. We might be confined to our beds or a hospital room with an injury or illness, or be jailed, or just stuck in a waiting room with nothing to do. When we are trapped by a circumstance we cannot immediately change, we can transport ourselves to a place which provides us with the peace, healing, or stimulation that we need.

Taking a magical journey is like making our own private movie, one in which we are the heroes, and we can go wherever we want to go. We can visit ancient Egypt, talk to a medieval philosopher, swim with whales in the ocean or fly with birds in the air, or explore astral realms beyond the physical world.

We start and end our journeys by being present. Tuning into the moment provides us a stable launch for our journeys and grounding when we return. The more we practice being present, the easier it is for us to focus and concentrate while we take our magical journeys.

It is helpful to have a place in our imagination where we can start and end our journeys. We might imagine ourselves being in our calm space when we begin our journey and return to it when the journey is ended. We can also create a special place to act as the launch pad and landing pad for our journeys: a green meadow in a forest, a cozy room with an armchair before a fireplace, or a private temple with marble flooring.

Although it is not necessary, we might find that we have a guide who leads us on our journeys. This guide might be present on all our journeys, or be a different guide for each place that we go. The guide might be an animal, or an angel, or a famous person from the past.

One way to take a magical journey is to find a picture that we like. It might show a road leading along a river, or a bright sunset over majestic mountains, or a group of people having a picnic. We can step into the picture and walk along the river. What happens just around the bend? What do the people having the picnic say to us? Is there a lodge in the mountains, or a cave where we can sleep through the night?

When we seek something specific in our journeys, such as peace, or healing, or stimulation, we can keep this in mind as we take the journey. If we are confined to a bed because of illness or injury, we might visit the healing temple of Aesclepius in ancient Greece. If we are stuck in a waiting room, we can entertain ourselves with a journey. Perhaps we can transport ourselves to a famous moment in the past: the first performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theater in London, the crowning of an Egyptian pharaoh, George Washington’s inauguration. If we want to move awareness away from our bodies altogether, we can shape shift, imagining ourselves in an animal body, turning into a sleek cougar, or a soaring hawk, or a swimming turtle.

Many people have taken magical journeys and written about them. We can learn from the experiences of others, using their descriptions to launch our own magical explorations.

Affirmation
I take magical journeys whenever I desire.

Practice: Send yourself on a magical journey

Decide on your journey place, the space where you will start your magical journey, and where you will return when you have completed the journey. This can be your calm place, or a place you use only for magical journeys. Choose the focus for your first journey—a picture, a place elsewhere in the world, a time in the past.

Sit in a comfortable chair, or lie on the floor or on your bed. Take a moment to be present, noticing the room around you, and tuning into how your body feels.

Go to your journey place. Say, “I take a magical journey to” and name the place you have chosen. See yourself stepping into the picture, or stepping through a door into the place or time you have chosen. Are you on a road, or in a building? Are you alone in the place, or is there a person or other being waiting there for you?

Put yourself in the picture. What are the colors in the place? What sounds do you hear? What smells does the place have? Is the air cool or warm?

Time to explore! What’s farther along the road? Is there a door in the room that leads elsewhere? Is your guide beckoning you onward?

If your mind wanders, return to the last place on the journey you remember. You might be becoming tired, or some part of you needs to assimilate your experience. You might also need to build up your ability to concentrate. It’s okay for your first journeys to be short ones. You may find that you can take longer journeys as you become more experienced.

When you are ready to return, take yourself back to your journey place. You can walk back along the road you have taken, or simply find yourself transported back to the place where you started.

Now bring your awareness back to the present moment. Look around the place you are in, notice the colors. Feel the temperature of the air on your skin.

Finally, make a note in your journal about the journey you have taken. You can describe it in detail, or just record the date, the place you went, and one word describing the journey.